Todd Rundgren: Taylor Swift is just not a fantastic singer, songwriter or dancer

This story goes to be so just like the one the place Martin Scorsese repeatedly declared that Marvel was ruining the movie trade after which all of the MCU followers threw tantrums. “Who’s Martin Scorsese anyway” And “He’s very previous and he’s by no means carried out something as huge as a Marvel film!” Effectively, Todd Rundgren is a 78-year-old American music legend. He had tons of hits, he’s thought of one of many founders of prog-rock. He’s additionally a legendary music producer. You get the thought: he is a music veteran who nonetheless follows what’s taking place within the music world in the present day and he has opinions. Effectively, Todd shared these opinions late final week, coincidentally across the similar time that Taylor Swift launched 4 new songs for A Showgirl’s Life: The Encore. These songs weren’t effectively obtained by even probably the most loyal Swifties. So that provides an additional dimension to what Rundgren needed to say about Taylor and the Swiftication of pop music.

Few main artists are prepared (fairly silly?) to publicly criticize latest Cleveland follower Taylor Swift for worry of exposing themselves to the cursed wrath of her loyal followers (or the pop star herself). Nonetheless, Todd Rundgren, assured of his standing as one in every of rock’s final nice grunts, has completely nothing to lose. The songwriter-producer just lately sat down with Vulture’s Devon Ivie for an enchanting dialog about his profession, from touring with Ringo Starr to his historical past with numerous band members. Ultimately, speak turned to Rundgren’s manufacturing work on Meat Loaf’s seminal 1977 album, Bat Out of Hell, which he admitted to seeing “as a parody of Bruce Springsteen.” So, if Rundgren produced this album now, who could be his goal?

“Taylor Swift, in fact,” he instructed Ivie. (Full disclosure: I beforehand labored with Ivie at Vulture.) “There’s an argument that she ruined music. It is an comprehensible phenomenon. It is simply that, to me, Taylor Swift is the apotheosis of mediocrity.” Rundgren then went on a meandering and intensely absurd tangent about how the largest artists on the earth proper now are ladies as a result of boys within the 90s began spending cash on video video games as a substitute of music? I am undecided about this one, Todd! “It left the music market with the query: ‘Effectively, the place can we go right here?’” Rundgren mentioned. “And so they mentioned, ‘Effectively, there are all these younger ladies and so they have their allowance too.'”

On the finish of his response, he introduced it again to Swift: “Taylor Swift would not do something significantly nice besides develop hair,” he added. “She’s not a fantastic singer. She’s not a fantastic songwriter. She’s not a fantastic dancer. She’s a job mannequin for what was a really younger technology of girls, and now for the daughters of these ladies too, as a result of they’re moms and daughters who go to Taylor Swift reveals.”

[From Pitchfork]

For what it is price, males additionally purchase and stream music, and the male equal of Taylor is just Drake. Drake, who produces awful, pointless albums as a result of he is bored and needs consideration. Drake, whose followers are obsessed together with his streaming numbers quite than his high quality or lyricism. Drake, who depends closely on gimmicks quite than artistry. Does this sound acquainted to everybody in Swiftyworld? So yeah – Rundgren looks like a curmudgeon and I am certain the Swifties will complain…besides they’re too busy making an attempt to pressure themselves to say one good factor about Taylor’s new songs.

Images courtesy of Cowl Photos.